Party Animal

Aquino says: "Good. What else do you have to do?"

Conor is stumped, so Natalia chimes in, "Say, 'Thanks for the cheeseburger . . . and have a nice day!' "

The cupcake-eating period at the end of class is probably the most challenging for this age group, since it involves the art of unstructured conversation. Once she gives the students the go-ahead to begin eating, Aquino suggests "sports" as a safe topic. A series of non sequiturs ("Are the Wizards a college team?" "I like baseball . . . ") is sustained for a minute or so, until Andy blurts out, "Last night I couldn't fall asleep because I thought there was a monster under my bed."

"Oh, I bet it was your imagination," Aquino says, cheerily.

"I saw it," he insists.

On their way out, the students hug Aquino tightly and thank her for the presents, little packets of notecards (Aquino has taught them that "thank-you notes have magic powers"). Zachary's sister, a shy 6-year-old named Grace, hands her one of the notecards, which Aquino opens after all the kids have gone. It says, simply, "Thank you. From Grace."

"Ooooh!" she whispers, looking near tears. "I will miss them."

If you have an upcoming party you'd like to share, e-mail us at partyanimal@washpost.com.